Happy (nearly) Anniversary, holidays and a raft of book news

Heck, where do I start? What a supremely busy day it’s been today. First off I must say happy 16th wedding anniversary to us as of tomorrow, hurrah! Well gosh and it’s astonishing that Lord H hasn’t sent me back to the Wife Shop yet. We’re celebrating today though as tomorrow we’re off to Italy at some ungodly hour and there’ll be no time for anything but packing and panicking. Bring on that champagne and make it snappy …

And here’s today’s meditation:

Meditation 222

In the storm
of harsh words,
accusation and hate,

one clear voice
tells us what we know
in the blood:

that God is eternal
but the work of man
must die.

My, how jolly I am. No, really … Meanwhile, what a lot of writing news there is today, most good but some bad, ah well. You’ll be pleased to hear that I finally finished the edits for Hallsfoot’s Battle and have sent the book off to the agent for his delectation. Or otherwise. It’s such a relief to have done it, I must say. Just in time for the holiday too, hurrah.

Set against that is the bad news that my final (or almost final – see a few sentences on …) potential publisher for The Gifting has just rejected it, so my faint commercial hopes for it are alas all but over. That said, I’ve had a surprising request for the first three chapters from a small independent fantasy press, so I’ve sent that off, as I’d be foolish not to, really. I should hear by October apparently, so at least the pain will be swift. And then I can, with a bit of luck and if the wind is in the right direction, get on with self-publishing it for early 2010.

And the writing news is not over yet. I’m pleased to say that my review of Ian Kelly’s biography of Casanova is now up at Vulpes Libris and I can thoroughly recommend the book. It’s stylish, sexy and beguiling – what more can you want?

In the middle of all this excitement, I’m completed my review of Sarah Stonich’s The Ice Chorus, and that should be uploaded onto the Vulpes site on 9 October. It’s a lyrical and rich read indeed, but not without its faults. Then again, who isn’t?

I’ve also packed, chatted to the neighbour and played around with my website for a while. As you do. Oh and I’ve also downloaded a suitable number of eBooks onto my eReader for the hols – here’s hoping it doesn’t break down again, eh. As, for the next week, Lord H and I will be taking what I think is a hugely well-earned break, and we will be sunning ourselves here, whilst eating an enormous amount of ice-cream and admiring an enormous amount of history and art. I can’t wait. I’ll be back late on 18 September, so probably back online on 19th, I imagine.

Until then, I hope you all have a glorious week, and please don’t work too hard. I don’t intend to.